On her MSNBC show on Thursday, host Andrea Mitchell bemoaned the Obama administration’s “unforced error” in sending Iran $400 million at the exact same time American hostages were released from Tehran in January. She was puzzled by the decision: “…they never explained that this other money was going – the $400 million. It’s unrelated to the nuclear deal. Why do it on the same day?”

Washington Post political correspondent Anne Gearan was equally baffled: “It’s a mystery why, exactly. They didn’t need to do it that day, there was nothing in particular forcing their hand that we know of to do it that day.” She avoided the possibility of the White House paying the money as ransom for the hostages….

I speculate that idiots such as this gal may not be as stupid as she represents herself to be, but exhibits this behavior for a reason. In playing the role of the distinguished public fool, she’s signaling to the rest of us that this is a respectable position and not ignorant or unacceptable. We see how political positions are largely parroted rather than thoughtfully arrived at (and we do it too); these games are won by tricks of emotion and mass psychology rather than reason. That’s why we keep getting into these messes.